Valleywide | Valley Focus

Bankruptcy Lawyer Elected Bar President

Woodland Hills bankruptcy attorney David R. Hagen is the new president of the San Fernando Valley Bar Assn.

In elections held earlier this month, the 1,450-member association also chose attorney Leon Bennett of Woodland Hills as its president-elect, Sherman Oaks lawyer Fred Gains as secretary and Encino lawyer Mark Blackman as treasurer.

Hagen, a partner with the Woodland Hills firm of Merritt & Hagen, also serves on the board of the Valley Community Legal Foundation and is completing a two-year stint as chairman of the board of TreePeople, an environmental group that encourages urban renewal through tree planting and recycling. He is the former director of San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services.

Attorneys winning seats on the 20-member board of trustees were Heather Atkinson of Tarzana, Lyle Greenberg and Marcia Kraft of Woodland Hills, Barry Harlan and Jay Sherman of Encino and Diane Karpman of Los Angeles.

The association will install its new board at a 7:30 p.m. dinner Saturday at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage. For information, call (818) 995-6665.